Slow Cookin': Lamb and Prune Stew

I bought some prunes oh so long ago, thinking that I wanted to make Chocolate Prune Cake. This is still on my agenda but I thought that I should make something savory with it. There are some interesting recipes on the internet, including a Colombian Chicken and Prune dish that I hope to try soon. For today though, I figured that I need my red meat fix.

Beef or lamb? The last time I had a beef burger was a couple of weeks ago, when a friend and I went to see Spiderman 2 and we had dinner at Merrywell. I'm actually not a fan of both. I usually prefer my chicken or salmon option just because I'm used to them. But now that autumn is quickly turning into winter, red meat will help warm me up and stews are always nice to have the next day to pack to work for lunch too.

So here we go.



Lamb and Prune Stew
Recipe adapted from Molly Stevens from Fine Cooking
Issue 121


Ingredients:

500g lamb shoulder cubes
2 leeks sliced
3 carrots sliced
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder or seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 inch fresh ginger root (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
1-2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic sliced
3/4 cup red wine
1 can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh peas (optional but good)
1 cup dried prunes
1/2 fresh lemon juice
salt to taste

Steps:

Preheat oven to 160C.

In a large deep cast iron casserole pot, brown lamb shoulder cubes on all sides. Set aside.
Add some olive oil into the pan if it gets too dry and sautee the carrots, leeks and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the spices - cumin, coriander, ginger, bay leaves and turmeric powder. Mix with the veggies until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the red wine and reduce til half. Add the diced tomatoes. Fill the can to about 1/2 way with hot water and add to the pot. Add the lamb shoulder cubes back to the pot. Boil for 2 minutes. Cover and place in the oven to cook for 1 hour until the lamb is tender. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, take out the pot and add the peas, prunes and lemon juice. Add salt to taste. Increase the oven temperature to 180C and put the pot back, lid off, for 15-20 minutes. This will help thicken up the sauce.

I just ate this on its own without any carbs or starch but it will be nice with toasted sourdough bread, pasta or even mashed potatoes! Yum!